Candidates offer diverse wish list for Lynnwood

The three candidates for Position 1 on the Lynnwood City Council in the Aug. 6 primary election have diverse interests that led them to pursue elected office.

Christopher Boyer, who was appointed to the City Council last year, said he would like to see Lynnwood become more of a transportation and retail hub.

“We’re drawing all kinds of very diverse people in the city to work, play and shop,” he said. “I want to make sure we have a healthy, multi-cultural approach … and we’re a place where people can come together.”

Boyer, pastor of Lynnwood’s Good Shepherd Baptist Church, said he has extensive background in nonprofit administration, including serving as president of the Washington State Arts Alliance Foundation. This background, he said, would be useful in bringing needed additional focus by the city on how the taxpayer’s money is spent.

James Robert Deal, who has been a stalwart opponent of fluoridation, said he’d like to see the city’s golf course stop using chemicals to treat the greens.

The current golf course is failing financially, he said. Ones that have made the switch to non-toxic chemicals — or what is called organic golf courses — such as one in Martha’s Vineyard, are popular.

With area park-and-ride lots often filled to the brim, Deal said he would like to see the city ask Community Transit about testing a flexible van program. That would allow people to get rides from their homes to the transit center or other places they needed to go. “Prioritize poor, carless people,” he said.

Michael Moore, who ran for the City Council two years ago, said he would like to see the city do more to help small businesses.

Moore said he thinks his experience as the owner of a striping and maintenance business would help guide city policy.

A lot of people in Lynnwood are living on fixed incomes, Moore said. “There are ideas we need to look at without going to raising taxes as the answer for all the problems.”

As a small business owner, Moore said he has to find creative ideas for cost savings. “If I have to do it as a business owner, why can’t the city do that, too?”

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.

What’s the job?

At stake is a four-year term on the Lynnwood City Council. This person oversees policy making for the city. Council members receive $1,650 per month or $19,800 a year. The council president receives $1,850 per month or $22,200